After receiving the call, the old professor took another two days to return to Qiongzhou. The news brought by Zhou Sheng was very important, but what happened in Lingao was even greater.

——The industrial group had an accident, and a test steam boiler exploded!

"How can this be?"

In order to stabilize people's hearts, Tang Jian did not explain the details even when he called to inform them. Everyone in Qiongzhou Mansion only learned about the actual situation after Professor Li returned.

"I'm so anxious... I'm going to start work quickly, and I want to get results as soon as possible..."

The old professor sighed repeatedly - the last time the industrial group took out the steam engine model, they had promised that results would be available in about half a year to a year. Now the time is almost up, but their progress is very slow. So someone said

It would be fine if others laugh and ignore these gossips. This kind of research cannot be rushed. However, Xiao Lang, the general person in charge of the steam engine project, is an extremely pushy person and cannot bear to be provoked. He would not forcefully mount the horse in a hurry.

A mature boiler test resulted in something wrong.

The research and development and testing of steam machinery are top-secret projects, and the personnel on site are all senior technicians trained by modern people. Although no one was killed on the spot by luck, more than ten people present were all seriously injured, and the losses were extremely heavy.

"God, do you need old Jack to go back? He is the best surgeon here!"

Everyone is quite nervous. So far, although they, these 139 people, have been through repeated dangers and have been seriously injured several times, they have not really lost their lives. This is mainly due to the fact that they have two people. Even in the original

Surgeons who were considered among the top surgeons of the era. Especially Old Jack. This American had snatched fatally injured time travel companions back from the hands of the Lord of Hell several times. He was a veritable "enemy of the Lord of Hell."

"It's no longer needed. Dr. Shi specializes in trauma surgery. As long as he doesn't die on the spot, he can save him."

The only good thing about this accident is that it did not cause death. Although several people suffered serious fractures, they could have recovered with more time. Only Xiao Lang himself was standing closest at the time, and he was also the most seriously injured. It is said that

It may lead to lifelong disability.

Haste makes waste. This accident not only caused the industrial group's steam engine and research and development projects to come to a complete halt, but also had to suspend several other projects that Xiao Lang was responsible for. In addition, all of the dozen injured modern technicians were originally injured.

With four or five apprentices, each of whom was responsible for a large amount of work, they were all forced to lay off their jobs for training. Although there were still apprentices available, neither Professor Li nor Tang Jian could trust their precious

Modern machines were left to the Ming Dynasty alone to operate, so half of the factory at the main Lingao base was paralyzed on the spot, and even weapons production and the modification of the Qionghai were affected.

"The war is imminent, but something like this happened... It's very troublesome right now."

After Professor Li gave a brief introduction to the situation there, everyone couldn't help but sigh helplessly. A few of the smarter ones were already worried about whether this accident would affect their next action plan.

Sure enough, when the judge brought up Aosayan's initiative to attack and discussed it with the old professor, the old man's face clearly showed disapproval.

"No, I don't agree with you doing this."

In the past few times, when the old professor's ideas conflicted with everyone's, he would put them forward in a more tactful way. But this time, the old man expressed his opposition straightforwardly:

"A preemptive attack is certainly a good way to seize the initiative, but it also loses the justice that we have been working hard to promote. The previous times we used troops on the mainland were all under the guise of other organizations.

But if we attack Guangzhou City directly this time, we will definitely not be able to pretend to be anyone else. This is a naked aggression, and we will lose the support of public opinion - we have finally changed our image in the southern coastal area, and we cannot let our previous efforts go to waste.

"

"The Ming army is coming to attack us."

Jie Xi argued unconvinced, but the old man shut him up with just one sentence:

"Is that Jin Yiwei willing to stand up and testify in front of the people?"

"You mean we can only wait and wait for the other party to knock on the door?"

Aosayan was also a little puzzled, but the old professor nodded and said:

"In this matter, I'm afraid we can only wait passively. You might as well think about it, what is our core strategy? - It is to strive to live in harmony with the Ming Dynasty. Regardless of whether we join the Ming Dynasty in the future, we will

We have never thought about destroying it, have we? So we should try to avoid fighting with the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty comes to fight, we will fight back in self-defense and eliminate all the troops they sent. This is no problem. But if we are worried that the other party will come to attack us,

To take a preemptive strike and attack the mainland would be contrary to our overall strategic intention and run counter to our original goal."

Seeing that most of the young people around him looked unconvinced, the old man smiled bitterly and added:

"You are all young people, you are ambitious, and you always want to control everything. This is normal. But when people reach my age, they will know what it means to do more than enough. Many times, if you do too much, you will not be able to do it.

The more there are, the further away from the target. For example, Wang Zunde insisted on sending troops this time, which alienated his subordinates. Even the Jin Yiwei came to report. Doesn't it mean that he has gone further and further down the wrong road? But if

Let's take the first step and send troops to attack the mainland, so that the officials, soldiers and people in Guangdong and Guangxi will realize that we have the ability to threaten them. This will only force them to unite to resist, but it will do Wang Zunde a big favor."

At the end of the sentence, the old man sighed:

"Considering that the Lingao main base just had an accident, our technical support and logistical support may no longer be as thoughtful and timely as before... Since everyone is asking for my opinion, my opinion is: it is better to do less than to do more.

.”

…………

There was silence in the conference room. There were all young men here, full of energy. Before the old man came, they were ready to kill him. They thought it was just a matter of notification. Unexpectedly, when the old professor came back, he said that he wanted to cancel the operation.

The truth is very sufficient, but it still makes many people intolerable.

"Is it that serious? We beat them hard once and then withdraw to let them know that our troops are not easy to mess with, so as to give up the idea of ​​attacking Hainan Island. Is there anything wrong with this?"

Lin Feng, who rarely attended such military meetings, interrupted somewhat rashly. In response to this, Professor Li's lips turned up slightly. However, there was no need for him to explain himself. Pang Yu next to him had already understood the old professor's intention.

"On this point, I think we may have been a little subjective."

Pang Yu tapped his fingers on the edge of the table and began to speak:

"Actually, if we think about it, the reason why we took the initiative to attack is simply because the Ming Dynasty army made us feel threatened. And the attack on Guangzhou City, as the professor just said, will inevitably bring this feeling of threat to them.

, causing all Ming Dynasty officials in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions to lose the sense of security that was originally isolated by the Qiongzhou Strait, and made them realize that we have the ability to hit them at any time."

"The Ming Dynasty is still a behemoth at the moment. No matter how powerful we are, it is impossible to overthrow the entire Ming Dynasty. We know this, and the other side also knows it. So when they feel threatened, they will certainly be afraid, but at the same time, they may not have more thoughts.

He will be honest and won't provoke us; instead, he will do his best to fight with force. On the one hand, he will be more defensive and defensive. On the other hand, he probably has the same idea as us: to take the initiative and completely eliminate our threat -

-After all, our scale is limited. And when we still have combat capabilities, they can't expect us to fight a second time or a third time after fighting for the first time...even if we make a guarantee.

Just as we will not believe the promises of the Ming army."

"Then we simply occupy Guangzhou and show them more power!"

Lin Feng shouted anxiously, Pang Yu smiled:

"Occupy Guangzhou?... Indeed, with our current strength, we are already capable of capturing the city of Guangzhou. If we really want to fight, we can definitely defeat it, but what happens after that? After occupying Guangzhou, do we want to capture some of the surrounding military important places?

If we don't take it down, we will be an isolated city surrounded by the enemy. If we take it down, we will face the threat of the Ming army on a larger scale. Or simply capture the entire province of Guangdong? But in this way, Fujian, Guangxi, Hunan next door...

They are all threats again; even if we capture all these provinces, we will have to face the Ming army in Zhejiang, Hubei, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Yunnan... these places."

"...In the end we will end up like little Japan. Unless we are ready to take the road of conquering the world from the beginning, it is definitely too early to consider this now. It will take thirteen years for this fruit to mature...

"

Next to him, Zhao Lide finally nodded:

"I think I can basically understand the old professor's idea: We need to make the Ming army feel scared, but at the same time we cannot make them feel threatened... Such an effect can only be achieved in self-defense and counterattack. Taking the initiative to attack will only be accurate.

It’s the opposite.”

So even Ade changed his attitude:

"It's better to be still than to move. I suggest you cancel the battle plan."

Since the two main combat staff said this, even if Lao Jie and the others had other ideas, they had to agree: to suspend the Guangzhou operation. In this way, with the insistence of the old professor, a military operation that was already on the line was cancelled.

.A certain Ming army stationed in the outskirts of Guangzhou, which had been targeted in the attack plan, escaped a major disaster without knowing it at all.
Chapter completed!